


Body Talk

by Gaffsie



Series: Human Nature [3]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Betty Cooper Needs a Hug, Break Up, F/M, Jughead Jones Needs a Hug, M/M, Omega Jughead Jones, alpha sweet pea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 21:38:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19237597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gaffsie/pseuds/Gaffsie
Summary: Jughead and Betty have a difficult conversation.





	Body Talk

**Author's Note:**

> Set sometime during _Human Nature_ , but before Jughead is claimed.

Jughead doesn't believe in soulmates, but he does believe that Betty Cooper is the closest thing to a soulmate he'll ever find.

And he's gonna have to let her go.

He researches it, of course he does. Reads literature and /r/relationship posts like a man possessed, but in the end he doesn't find anything that suggests that a claimed omega can keep their original partner. There is some suggestion that an Alpha is capable of having multiple partners, even if it's both risky and severely frowned upon, but for an omega it just doesn't work like that.

Shakespeare wrote tragedies about it for a reason, Jughead admits to himself, closing another Firefox tab on a tale of broken marriages and heartbreak.

Jughead briefly considers just keeping quiet; let nature take its course, but he can't do that to Betty, can't let it blindside her like that.

He finally sends her a text.

“OK if I come over? I need to talk with you. ”

And then he's sitting in the Cooper family living room, Betty looking concerned and grave, and him feeling like he's going to throw up. He probably looks like he's gonna throw up too, because Betty reaches over and puts her hand on his forehead, checking for a fever, before finally settling for holding his hand, trying to give him comfort.

At least her mother isn't at home. Small mercies.

He takes a deep breath, and he tells her everything. About the way he feels around Sweet Pea, about the way Sweet Pea acts around him, what it all means for the both of them. She is quiet, listening intently to him.

She is quiet for a long time, and then, finally, she speaks.

“Is there no way? ...”

She trails off, her green eyes looking so sad and defeated, and Jughead squeezes her hand, and hates how he's the one to put that look on her face. He was supposed to be the one person who'd never do that.

“I'd have to go away,” he says, in a rush, because he's thought about it; of course he has – he's spent countless sleepless nights making and remaking plans to get away, to somehow stop this. “Far away, somewhere without a Serpent presence, somewhere were no one will recognize me. Maybe go west.“

He looks at her, this girl that he loves with all his heart, and smiles weakly.

“I don't want to abandon the Serpents,” he says, “but for you, I would. Would you want that, would you want to run away from Riverdale with me, live off the grid?”

Betty bites her lip, and looks down at their joined hands, and he knows her answer.

He reaches out and touches her chin, makes her face him.

“It's okay,” he says, meaning it, hoping that she can feel his sincerity. “I would never ask that of you.”

“Jug, she breathes, tears welling up in her eyes. “-I”

“You love me, I know,” Jughead reassures her. He has no doubt about that. But he also knows that she loves her family, and her friends, and that she wouldn't want to leave them behind. Not even for him.

“It's not fair,” she sobs, pulling him into a tight embrace.

“No,” he agrees, squeezing her back, hard, two children clinging to each other for comfort.

“I love you, Betty Cooper,” he tells her hair, as she sobs against his shoulder, “and in a perfect world, I'd spend the rest of of my life with you.”

Betty cries against him, making his shirt wet with her tears, as he rubs soothing circles on her back. He's surprised at his own lack of tears. Maybe, he reasons, he's all cried out. No tears left.

They stay like that for what feels like an eternity, but can't be more than 30 minutes, and then Betty collects herself and moves out of his embrace.

Jughead looks at her runny mascara and swollen eyes; her red nose, and feels the same rush of affection he always gets when he looks at her. Gently, he tucks a piece of stray blonde hair back behind her ear.

“I will always love you,” he tells her.

He bites his lip, looks down at his lap, knowing he's asking too much of her again, but being unable to resist. “And maybe -”

“What?” she asks, voice not completely steady yet, but still strong; the way she's always so strong.

“Maybe we could still be friends?” he asks, unable to keep the hopefulness out of his voice.

She sighs and takes his hand in hers.

“I want that too,” she says, “but, not right now. I don't think I can-”

“No, I understand,” Jughead says, “it's okay.”

She smiles at him, still with so much love, but now tempered by grief. “I know it's not your fault, Juggie, but it doesn't make it any easier. I need some time, that's all.”

“Okay,” Jughead says, relieved. It's more than he expected honestly, and definitely more than he deserves after breaking her heart like this.

She hugs him again, and then she gives a little laugh.

“God,” she says, “I don't even know how to process this.”

“Tell Veronica and Kevin I dumped you,” Jughead says. “They'll make you feel better.”

Betty smiles at him. “You're sweet,” she says. “You're always so sweet. But I can't do that to you.”

She gives him a searching look. “How long do you think it will be,” she asks, trying to be delicate, “before...”

He smirks at her, joylessly. “Not long now,” he admits. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner.”

“It's not your fault,” she says, and then, “I'll keep quiet then. Until.”

Until.

Until he can't fight himself any longer.

Until he can't hide what he is.

Until Sweet Pea claims him.

Impulsively, he kisses her, clasps her face in his hands the way he used to. She tastes like home, but she won't be his any longer.

He wonders if Sweet Pea's kisses will make him feel the same. Wonders if they'll taste of betrayal instead.

She is the one to break the kiss, gently pushing him away from her.

“You should go,” she says, and he nods.

She doesn't walk him to the door. He doesn't ask her to.

It's raining outside, and he almost laughs at what a fucking cliché his life is.

If this makes it into his novel, he's gonna write that the sun was shining.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Next step: Sweet Pea angst!


End file.
